FMA: Generations, Ch 5-The Lost Prince
by dary5
Summary: Took me FOREVER! But here it is! I've finally finished it!


**Chapter 5 The Lost Prince**

**T**he castle hall was full of citizens of Xing. They were all ready. They were ready to witness the coronation of their new prince, Aaron Elric. Aaron walked down the aisle with shaky arms and sweat racing down his head. He held his temper. He didn't want to make a scene in front of everyone just because they were whispering about how short he was. Soon enough, he finally made it to his throne. He was furious. His father never told him why they packed all their clothes and other belongs. But now, he understood completely. Ed didn't tell him because he knew that Aaron was going to refuse to be prince.

"Citizens of Xing, we have come here today to witness and proclaim Aaron Alphonse Elric as the new prince of Xing. And now, we shall read the duties of a prince of Xing." Emperor Ling Yaq announced. Lan Fan, Ling's wife and the queen of Xing, handed her husband the scroll where all the prince's duties are listed. "Aaron Elric, you must repeat after me when I read each duty." The Emperor instructed. Ling read out loud while Aaron repeated after him:

"As prince of Xing, I solemnly swear to protect, lead, guide, and direct Xing righteously. I will listen to my subjects attentively and only advise when necessary. If anyone has broken any law, I will give the appropriate consequence according to the written laws that were printed in our legislative court. And I myself will not add or remove any written laws that were sealed until I become Emperor. Let it be."

Emperor Ling anoints Aaron's head with oil and hands him his crown. Ling nods which signals that it was time for Aaron to place the crown on his head, become Prince Aaron Van Elric, and announce his speech. Aaron lifted his crown for everyone to see and then he smiled mischievously.

A sudden explosion happened right next to Aaron and the smoke blocked everything. But as it cleared, Aaron was gone! Everyone looked all over for him. Paula rummaged all around the debris and found Aaron's coat that he was wearing. It was full of blood and had holes all over it. "I think he's dead! But I don't see his body anywhere!" Tears fell from Paula's eyes. Ed, Winry, May, Wendy, Al, and Prince Hohenheim stared in amazement. They couldn't believe what happened.

Winry and Wendy's eyes were flooding with tears they couldn't bear it. Aaron was the lost prince of Xing.

"You're a pretty good actress." Aaron smiled mischievously at Paula. "You should be in some type of emotional movie, you know what I mean?" Paula didn't answer. Fear struck her heart like a lightning bolt. _What if I was caught? What will they do to me? Will Dad's dream be in jeopardy? Do they have the authority to take me away from my parents? _But after so many questions, Paula thought the worst possible. _What if they declare war and everyone I love gets killed? It'll be my entire fault. _Aaron recognized Paula's expression and held her hand while Roy and Riza weren't looking. "Relax, Paul, nobody but you and your parents will know about this. So, don't worry." Aaron whispered in her ear.

As the train started for central, Aaron looked at Paula. Guilt filled her entire face. On the outside, Aaron was carefree about everything. But deep down, he thought of himself as selfish. He was selfish to leave his entire family behind. He was selfish to let Paula take the guilt and burden. But worst of all, he was selfish to let the punishment crash into Amestris if the royals from Xing were to find out that he ran away to the country.

"Paul, are you okay?" Riza asked. "You don't need anything or maybe some water or milk?" Paula suddenly started to laugh. "Aaron, do you remember back when you were taking a vacation here and you and your family was having a sleep over with us?" Aaron nodded. "Well, do you remember that Mom served us milk and cookies?" Paula asked. A flashback hit Aaron.

_"Paul, this is the most boring show I've ever seen!" Aaron complained. Him, Paula, and Wendy, sat on the couch watching a documentary of the human body. "Well, maybe if you were quiet and actually listening and thinking, you would probably have already learned something big brother." Suddenly, Riza came in with a tray of baked cookies and three glasses of cold milk. Wendy and Paula thanked Riza for the snack and they both started to pour their cookies into their glasses of milk. Riza noticed Aaron looking at his milk with a frown on his face. "Aren't you going to drink your milk, Aaron?" She asked. "No, I hate milk! Milk is so disgusting!"_

"_But you'll grow taller!"_

"_WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY?! ARE YOU IMPLYING THAT I'M SHORT?!"_

"_Well, Aaron, I guess I am. Now, drink your milk!"_

"_NO! YOU'LL HAVE TO CHUG IT INTO MY MOUTH TO MAKE ME DRINK THAT CRAP!"_

_ Riza took out her gun and shot warning shots around Aaron. He cowardly crawled back in front of the tray and started to pour his cookies into his milk._

Aaron started to chuckle. "Yeah, I still hate milk, though. But I just wonder… did your Mom used to fire warning shots around you?" He asked. Paula shook her head. "No, she never disciplined me like that. She mostly just either sent me to my room to be grounded or she put me in the 'time-out chair'." Aaron smiled at her. "I can't wait till I get home, though!" Paula smiled. "Why?" Aaron asked. "So I don't have to wear anymore dresses!" Paula smirked.

The train soon stopped at Amestris. The air was clean and a lot of chatter filled the station. "Okay, so Elicia said that she'd be driving a small blue car." Paula explained.

As Paula looked around, she felt someone giving her a very tight hug from behind. Right away she knew it was Elicia. "Oh my God, it has been forever since I last saw you! I missed you so much!" Elicia gushed. Paula sighed. "Elicia, it's only been two days." Elicia quickly turned Paula around. Paula smiled as she saw the same, old friend she knew since she was a kid. Except Elicia was much older and wore a ponytail. Elicia nudged everyone to come and follow her into her blue car. But before Paula could enter the car and sit in the front seat, Roy pulled her arm. "Paula Elizabeth Mustang, you know the rules! You're not allowed to ride shotgun until you are 20!" Paula got annoyed. "Dad, you're embarrassing me! You ain't being fair either!" Paula was forced to sit in the back anyway.

The car finally parked near the Mustangs' mansion. It was bigger than Aaron could've imagined. Soon, everyone got off the car and when they entered the mansion there was a loud "surprise" echoing across the entire mansion. They saw a chocolate cake and Mustang's old subordinates lighting 16 candles on it.

"Wow, whose birthday is it?" Paula asked. "It's your birthday party! Did you forget that you were turning sixteen today?" Breda explained. Paula was shocked. She couldn't believe that she forgot her own birthday. She looked at the calendar just to make sure they weren't mistaken. November 4th. Indeed, Paula forgot her own birthday. She looked around. Her parents, Elicia, Havoc, Fuery, Rebecca, and even Falman and the Havocs' son, Jake, came. She ignored the fact that she forgot and focused on the party.

The party was full of laughter, chatter, and fun. But all of a sudden, Alex Louis Armstrong entered the party and everyone put on scared faces. "Oh, it's so wonderful and absolutely beautiful to celebrate an event like this in a young girl's life! It brings tears to my eyes! But bringing entertainment to a party has been passed down in the Armstrong generation for years!" Armstrong said while crying and sparkling. Paula ignored what he said and gave him a hug. "Thanks for coming, Uncle Alex." She whispered.

As the party ended, Jake sat down next to Paula in the living room couch. "Hey… I heard about what happened to Reuben. I know how messed up that is, dude." He said. "No… I'm alright. Me and Reuben spent time with each other and he was sweet… and nice. I really loved him. He was the best boyfriend ever." Paula sighed. "Jake, it's time to go home!" Rebecca called out. "I'm coming, Mom!" Jake answered. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

The party ended at midnight. Everyone went to bed except for Roy and Paula. Roy sat next to Paula who was watching another documentary on the human body. He started to laugh. "Do you remember when you were just a little girl and you used to say that you wanted to be a doctor?" Paula nodded. "You were so cute back then and you usually made us laugh." Roy's smile slowly faded. "I guess that's how I kept on seeing you..." Paula was puzzled. "What do you mean, Dad?" Roy looked at his daughter in the eyes and stroked her cheek. "I guess I always saw you as my baby… you know… you're my little girl and um…Daddy never got the chance to let you take your own responsibility. Sweetheart, no father wants his little girl to grow up this fast and I'm one of them. One day, baby, you're going to get married and Daddy's going to have to watch you go."

Paula rested her head on Roy's chest. "Dad… you're acting like I'm moving out or something…" Roy stroked Paula's hair. "I just wanted to give you something, Paul." Roy reached into his pocket and handed Paula a ring. "What's… what's this?" Paula asked. "It's a silver ring I inside a jewelry store." Paula smiled and hugged her father. "Thanks, Daddy." Paula whispered. Roy smiled. "You said, '_Daddy_'? I never thought I'd hear you say that." Roy put the ring on Paula's left index finger and kissed her hand. "When you get your wedding ring, you can take off this one."

Soon enough, Roy walked Paula back to her bed and as she lay there, Roy kissed her in the forehead and ran his fingers down her dark, brown hair. "Hey, sweetheart, I'm going to allow you to finally get a job and to finally take your driver's test so that I can get you a nice car." Paula started to smile again. "Hey, Dad, do you think that Aaron's comfortable with the guest room?"

"Oh, please, if we forced him to leave he would want to beat the crap out of ous! Now, get some sleep, tomorrow's another day." He smiled at Paula and tucked her in. He left one more kiss on Paula's right cheek. He slowly watched his only child fall asleep.

She was beautiful even when she was sleeping, almost angelic-looking. Roy left the room but looked at Paula for the last time. "Goodnight, sweetheart…" He whispered across the room.


End file.
